Kirsten Larson
Headquarters, Washington, DC April 6,2001
(Phone: 202/358-0243)
Bruce Buckingham
Kennedy Space Center, FL
(Phone: 321/867-2468)
James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)
RELEASE: 01-67
ENDEAVOUR'S MISSION WILL EXTEND SPACE STATION'S REACH WITH
NEXT-GENERATION ROBOTICS; LAUNCH SET FOR APRIL 19
The Space Shuttle Endeavour is ready to soar into orbit
April 19 on another International Space Station construction
mission that will extend the reach of humans in orbit.
Endeavour and its seven-member international crew will
deliver a new generation of Canadian space robotics to the
International Space Station. The robotic arm is longer,
stronger, more flexible and more capable than the Space
Shuttle's venerable arm.
Shuttle managers yesterday set the launch for 2:41 p.m. EDT
from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL, on an 11-day mission
that will continue the rapid pace of assembly that has
transformed the orbiting complex during the past eight months
into the largest and most sophisticated space laboratory ever
built.
"The launch of Endeavour marks a significant milestone for us
in that it completes a quick, safe and successful full
turnaround of the Space Shuttle fleet dedicated to assembly
of the station in only a few months," Space Shuttle Program
Manager Ron Dittemore said. "Once Endeavour arrives on this
flight, all three shuttles capable of docking with the
station will have done so twice in the past eight months. The
International Space Station's assembly has relied on our
ability to maintain a schedule of regular launches to
complete uniquely complex missions, and the shuttle team has
come through in safe, successful and spectacular fashion."
In addition to the Canadarm2, which is the centerpiece of
Canada's contribution to the International Space Station,
Endeavour's flight, designated STS-100, also will carry the
second Italian Space Agency logistics carrier, a module named
Raffaello. Endeavour's flight is planned to include the most
complex and intricate robotics work ever conducted in space
to install the arm, as well as to deliver more research
equipment and experiments to the station than any previous
mission.
Commanded by Kent Rominger, Endeavour's crew represents the
most diverse crew to ever fly in space with four
international partner space agencies. The shuttle's pilot is
Jeff Ashby and includes mission specialists John Phillips and
Scott Parazynski. Chris Hadfield, a Canadian Space Agency
astronau, Umberto Guidoni, a European Space Agency astronaut
and Yuri Lonchakov, a Russian Aviation and Space Agency
cosmonaut round out Endeavour's crew. The Shuttle is
scheduled to land April 30 at the Kennedy Space Center.
Additional information about Endeavor and the STS-100 mission
is available at:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/
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